Belfast is a small town in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. The town is renowned for its excellent trout fishing conditions. Sheep and dairy farming take place here and maize, potatoes and timber are produced. Coal and a black granite are mined in the area surrounding Belfast. Around six million tulip bulbs are produced here annually for export - the flowers are discarded.
Belfast is 2 025 m above sea level and one of the coldest and highest towns in South Africa. It has a subtropical, highland climate with mild summers and chilly, dry winters. Rain falls here in the summer.
It was named after Richard Charles O'Neill from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who owned the farm on which the town was built.
Superb trout fishing.
During the Anglo-Boer War several battles and skirmishes took place in and around the town. The Battle of Leliefontein took place thirty kilometres south of here at the Komati river, an engagement for which several Victoria Crosses were awarded to Canadian soldiers.
The British built a concentration camp here during the Anglo Boer War to house Boer women and children. Several Victoria Crosses were awarded for action at Monument Hill which is on the edge of the town. During the war Meyer de Kock and his family resided in town. He was a member of the local peace committee and visited the Boer commandos to persuade them to surrender. He was convicted by them of high treason and executed by firing squad on 12 February 1901.
